Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution. London: Lawrence, 1971. First Edition. Pp, 416. Cloth boards in dust jacket. Light wear to jacket, otherwise a good copy.

The only full-length biography of Mellows by the socialist republican C. Desmond Greaves & regarded as a key source for understanding the turbulent years during the partition of Ireland.

Liam Mellows was the personification of the realism and romance of the Irish struggle. The story of the Easter uprising and the partition of Ireland are seen through the lens of this charismatic figure, encapsulating many of the key themes of the times. Mellows along with Rory O’Connor, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett were executed by the Provisional Government on the 8th December 1922, in reprisal for the shooting of  Pro-Treaty TD, Seán Hales.

Inserted are a series of newspapers clippings (Irish Times, Letters to the Editor) relating to the execution of Liam Mellows, which were initiated by Peadar O’Donnell in 1968 & became known as ‘The Terrible Hours.’ Also with a typed lettered signed by O’Donnell referring to the incident. Mellows was among the leaders of the anti-treaty IRA garrison in the Four Courts under Rory O’Connor. When this garrison surrendered in late June he was imprisoned in Mountjoy along with a group of young left-leaning republicans, including Peadar O’Donnell. O’Donnell wrote of Mellows’ execution that the ‘richest mind our race had achieved for many a long day had been spilled.’ Mellow’s execution along with his comrades are described in Peadar O’Donnell’s Irish Civil War memoir ‘The Gates Flew Open.’

Included is an original printed broadside titled in Irish and English ‘Liam Mellow’s Last Letter’ Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, December 8th, 1922. 5am.’